A Time for New Heroes
by Elfshire
Summary: Heroes live forever in our memory, though even they must physically die eventually. Find out what happens in the future of the world: the future without Sonic.
1. The Past

Sonic froze as clouds rolled over Station Square. "What's up? Is Eggman hatching some evil scheme again?" A nearby TV store turned all of its display units in the window to the local news station, allowing Sonic to quickly identify the source of the disturbance.  
  
A robotic suit twice the size of a normal human landed in the city square, quickly drawing a crowd as its jets cooled. Sonic appeared in a flash, inexplicably stopping on a dime, though he was running faster than anything you've ever seen on a highway. He sized up this man-made threat, it's designer obvious by the device's rotundity; not to mention its metal mustache and domed head. "What do you want this time, egghead?"  
  
"Overconfident as ever, my eternal adversary," mused the voice of Dr. Ivo Robotnik from within the machine. "But you won't win today, I promise you that. I've spent a lot of time over these years studying your techniques and strategies..." Robotnik smiled, unseen. "If you and I were the same speed, I might even be able to best you without going to such lengths as I have."  
  
"What lengths?" demanded the blue hedgehog, as the crowd grew more nervous with each passing moment.  
  
"Do you know why you always win, Sonic?"  
  
"That's easy! My speed!"  
  
"That's only partly true, Sonic. There's been plenty of times where, had it not been for the seven Chaos Emeralds, you would never have succeeded."  
  
"What's your point?"  
  
"My point is that you can be overpowered, and so long as you don't have the Emeralds handy, there's no way for you to turn the tables on me."  
  
"So? You'll never be able to trap someone as fast as I am, Doc. If you're too powerful for me to face, I'll just speed off and be back with the Emeralds in no time." Sonic smirked. For someone with an IQ of 300, Eggman sure didn't seem too smart.  
  
"We'll just see. Come, Sonic! One last fight, for old times sake!" With that, the battle-suit charged forward, using a huge arm to smash the ground where Sonic had been a split second before.  
  
"Is that all you got?" asked Sonic, reclining in an outdoor café chair a good fifty feet away.  
  
Eggman whipped around and fired a green laser out of his right arm's cannon. The chair was left a black mark on the ground, but the hedgehog merely yawned – unharmed – while standing atop Robotnik's head. "No more games, Sonic!" he snarled as he swiped at the top of his head, prompting Sonic to jump up, curl into a ball, and slam down on the poor genius' creation.  
  
Hopping down to the ground and skipping a safe distance away, Sonic started taunting again. "I don't see how this is different from anything else you've built, Eggman. Give it u—"  
  
But with that, the doctor got the drop on him, skipping over to him so fast you could've sworn he teleported were it not for the blur. In mid-syllable, the blue blur was dealt a lethal backhand and was sent careening into a wall. "Ugh..." he groaned as he got to his feet. "Impossible... How could you possibly build something that fast?" To answer, Robotnik bolted over to him and pummeled him into the sidewalk as the crowd collectively cried out in horror.  
  
"Had enough, Sonic?" Robotnik grinned widely within his armor as the dust cleared, but suddenly was struck in the back of the head. "Oof! Don't you get it, you fool?" he yelled, turning around once again to see Sonic, who was clutching his injured side, but still standing. "You're wounded, but I'm not even scratched! You can't possibly hope to win this battle!"  
  
"I've still got my speed. You may be fast, but you'll never catch up to my top speed! See ya when I'm Super, chump!" The crowd barely had time to part as their hero dashed by, but he hadn't gone ten feet out of the city square when Robotnik snatched him up with one great clawed hand.  
  
"That might be a bit difficult," stated Eggman, as his suit began to glow with an otherworldly light, "seeming as how all seven Chaos Emeralds are powering this very suit!" The power of Chaos began to surge into Sonic like raw, multicolored electricity, and all his senses suddenly became blocked out by the pain. "Any last words?"  
  
"You'll never get away with this, you monster!" said the hero, through gritted teeth.  
  
"I already have. Farewell, Sonic!" and with that, the evil Eggman clenched his fist, extinguishing the life of the great hero—  
  
—forever. 


	2. The Future

The young woman stretched and yawned as dawn shone through the window. She glanced out the window of the treehouse, seeing the same lush forest she had become accustomed to growing up. She changed into her average day clothes: a white tank top, a pair of jeans, and laceless red running sneakers with a white stripe across the middle. Next, using her bedroom mirror to guide her, she pulled the violet hedgehog quills growing out of the back of her head into a ponytail (which was no small feat).  
  
Set for the day, she bounded down the stairs, around the corner, and past the kitchen – prompting the figure sitting in one of the chairs there to blurt out, "And just where are you going?"  
  
"Running as usual, Unc." She replied.  
  
"Be careful, Samie!" he replied.  
  
"Right," she acknowledged, rolling her eyes. And with that, she was out the front door and racing down the path. Unc often told her how much he was amazed at her gift for speed, as he could never come close to matching her, even in his younger days. She ran without a care in the world, jumping off old logs placed like ramps and swinging from hanging vines she'd found years ago. Her agility came naturally to her, and she hardly noticed she'd already gone through that odd loop-the-loop.  
  
She remembered her younger days; running with her uncle through the woods, helping him with his inventions that now took over most of their house, and she recalled with a special, mischievous fondness the day she learned how to roll up into a ball and scare the bejeezes out of helpless Flickies.  
  
Reaching her favorite part of the forest, she stopped, and admired a calm clearing. {It's so much quieter out here today,} she thought, as she sat down with her back to an old oak. She looked up at the clear blue sky for a while – lost in the silence – and almost fell asleep...  
  
But it was not to be.  
  
A large metal figure came crashing through the brush, and burst into the clearing with its sights set on the alarmed Samie. An artificial eye focused on her for a second, and then the machine emitted a sound that seemed to be the word "hedgehog." It raised its weapon and fired without hesitation.  
  
Samie, having never fought anything in her life bigger than a mosquito, barely managed to dodge the small bolt of energy that ended up whizzing *right* past her ear. She stumbled, then ran down the path that led for home. As the green blurred past her vision, she thought she heard a few other shots fired, and thanked God they didn't hit their intended target. Just when she thought she was about to get away, though, two more just like the one she left behind popped up in front of her. Gasping, she tucked into a ball and rolled under them, and ran into a third she hadn't seen a few feet behind the first. Her would-be assassin stumbled, then aimed its firearm.  
  
Something inside her awakened then, a knowledge she didn't know she had was revealed and she immediately seized it. Pressing off the ground with both feet, she used her powerful legs to flip herself forward in the air rapidly, and she felt her quills cut through the robot like the blades of a can opener.  
  
The bot's two halves slumped to the ground as she continued to run, perhaps even more frightened for having defeated the robot so easily than she would've been if she hadn't been able to at all. {What are these things? How did I do that? What's going on?} Questions streamed through her brain even faster than she could run, and by the time she made it home, she collapsed out of stress and exhaustion.  
  
She could hear more of them coming for her, and it was all she could do to raise her head off the ground and turn to see the dozen or so killers marching toward her. Then, she heard a different noise coming from the house...  
  
"SAMIE! STAY DOWN!"  
  
The girl looked up to see her uncle in what appeared to be a blue and yellow tank with legs. "Uncle Miles, what're you doing?" she watched, stunned, as it stepped between her and the robots, and she saw a small red laser sweeping across their ranks.  
  
"Fire rocket launcher!" yelled the fox as a turret on the back of his vehicle launched a salvo of missiles and devastated all of the intruders. When the smoke cleared, Samie rose to her feet and wordlessly stared at her uncle.  
  
"I owe you an explanation," he said, meeting her gaze with an apologetic expression.  
  
---------------------------  
  
"So what *is* all this about?" asked Samie. "What do you know that you aren't telling me?"  
  
Miles thought and thought about the best way to put this. He stared down at his glass of water wordlessly for a few minutes, then finally said, "Do you remember the bedtime stories I always used to tell you?"  
  
"What do those have to do with anything?"  
  
"Do you?"  
  
She sighed. "Yes, I remember."  
  
Miles began to fidget. "Maybe I should tell them again..."  
  
Samie had just about had enough, hearing this. "I remember the stupid stories okay!?"  
  
"THEY'RE NOT STUPID!"  
  
Samie froze. Had her uncle just cracked?  
  
"I... I'm sorry. Just... hear me out." Miles waited for her to nod, then he took a deep breath and began speaking again. "All those stories I told you about the Great Blue Hedgehog? Well, they're real."  
  
"What, no way!"  
  
"Yes, way."  
  
"All of them?"  
  
"All of them. The only parts I took out were the parts about me, because I didn't want you to know they were true. I knew Sonic, and I was with him on almost all of his adventures."  
  
"You knew--? Wait, does this mean... Eggman is real, too?" she stammered.  
  
"Yes. His robots just attacked us."  
  
"But... why?"  
  
"Because— " Miles' eyes filled with salty tears as he broke off mid- sentence. "Because Sonic was your father." 


	3. Miles' Tale

"H-he was?" the young girl stammered. "Then – who was my mother?"  
  
"Amy Rose."  
  
"What? But that's impossible! In the stories, you said Sonic hated her!"  
  
Miles smirked and chuckled to himself through the tears, trying to regain his composure. "He did, for the longest time... But then we grew up. I was only eight back then, and I used to follow Sonic everywhere. But after a while, I stopped. I grew out of the phase where kids look up to others, and started trying to prove myself in my own right. In the same way, he grew less self-absorbed, and he started accepting Amy."  
  
Samie shook her head, trying to take all this in. She trusted her uncle like he was her father, but the things he was saying now were too much to believe. "How do I know you're not making all this up?"  
  
Wordlessly, the fox rose to his feet and took an old photo album off the shelf that she'd never noticed before. He blew the dust off it, and flipped through the pages. He looked up from it for a second, and then handed it to her. She opened it and saw the faces of all her childhood heroes. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Cream... Even the lesser-known figures like Gamma and the Chaotix. They were exactly as her uncle described them in his stories, and she saw her uncle's younger self amongst them all...  
  
"Now you know the truth. Your real name is Samie Rose. I'm sorry this all had to come to light." Miles buried his face in his hands; he couldn't bear to look at her. He wanted to keep the past buried, he thought he could give her a life of happiness...  
  
Samie wiped her moistening eyes. "There's one thing you haven't told me." She met her uncle's gaze and asked, "How did they die? Tell me everything."  
  
Miles sighed deeply. He began to recite everything he knew from about 15 years ago, and both he and his niece shared many tears that night.  
  
------------------------  
  
He told her that her father had died at the hands of the evil genius. After his defeat, Miles took Amy into hiding, here in the forest (at the request of Shadow and the others). He knew the others planned to make a final stand against Eggman... but that was over a decade ago, and he hadn't heard from them since. Miles wanted to get back out there and fight, but Amy grew sicker every day from the knowledge that her one love in life was gone, and he couldn't bear to leave her alone for a second, for fear that she would lose the last of her grip on life.  
  
Then, months later, she gave birth to a daughter, conceived before Sonic's death. Miles could never forget that beautiful moment when she first held Samie in her arms. A sort of peace came over Amy as she looked upon her new daughter. She named her with her dying breath, and passed away happy.  
  
This new death made Miles even more eager to settle the score with Eggman, but he couldn't leave Samie behind, as she couldn't fend for herself, and he was the only one who could take care of her. He considered taking her along, but what if she got hurt? He'd never be able to live with himself if he caused that to happen, so he stayed near the treehouse, vowing to defend it for as long as it took.  
  
Now that Samie was old enough to take care of herself, he wasn't sure what to do. Eggman was still around, and he had surely conquered much over fifteen long years. Now he even knew where the two of them lived, and they were faced with a choice: keep running, or fight.  
  
------------------------  
  
"If we run now, we'll be running for the rest of our lives," spoke the young hedgehog. "Someone has to make him pay for what he's done."  
  
"I know," said Miles. "But if Sonic and the others couldn't beat him, how can we? And even if we do win, it won't bring the others back."  
  
"I know that," Samie replied, sadly. "But we can still save everyone else on this planet. And we don't know that the others are dead... did they even know where the treehouse was?"  
  
"I don't know," he said, and stared emptily out the window.  
  
"Miles," she said, placing her hand on his, and looking directly into his eyes, "I don't think I'd ever be able to take the place of a great hero like Sonic... I'd be crazy to try. But someone has to put an end to all this, and I think we're the only ones who can."  
  
Her words opened her uncle's eyes. "You're right, Samie. I want you to have something." As he said this, he quickly dashed up the stairs, and came back down with a large mallet, painted bright red and yellow. "This was your mother's. It might help you."  
  
------------------------  
  
The Cyclone trudged its way through the forest, leaving the only home Samie had ever known. As the treehouse grew more distant, it seemed to be swallowed up by the thick forest. She knew the woods by heart, so she had never noticed just how well their abode was hidden to anyone who didn't know where to look.  
  
Samie shifted in the rear seat, the safety belt drawn tightly across her torso. "Where are we heading, exactly?"  
  
"Station Square, where this all started. Maybe we can find a clue to the other's whereabouts. I know the Chaotix used to have their base there, at least." Miles ran over different scenarios in his mind. What would Station Square look like, after all this time? Had Robotnik razed it to the ground? Enslaved its people and turned it into a giant factory? Worse yet, could it even be his new headquarters?  
  
The two reached a good-sized clearing, where they came to a stop. "Tornado transformation!" yelled Miles, purely for effect, as the Cyclone blasted into the air, morphing into a jet. They'd be there in no time.  
  
And although neither would voice it out loud, they'd never been more afraid of anything in their lives. 


	4. Station Square

"No..."  
  
Stretched out before them were the remains of Station Square, ruined by both the forces of evil and the passing of time. Miles feared that this would be all he'd see of his hometown, but had hoped it wouldn't be so. Holes were punched through solid concrete, cars lay on their sides, and scarce was the surface not covered by shattered glass. Even Perfect Chaos hadn't managed to make things nearly this bad. Miles landed the Cyclone, having accepted this reality a long time ago.  
  
His machine trudged through the streets as an electronic map stored in the Cyclone's onboard computer guided them to their destination. An unearthly silence hung over them, and Samie tried to imagine the city full of life again, the way her father had seen it. Shortly, they reached the main square.  
  
Miles stopped. "This is where Sonic fought for the last time." He looked up at the sky, as if he expected to see his old friend up there.  
  
"Uncle, what's that?"  
  
On the sidewalk next to them lay a bouquet of blue flowers, held together by a power ring.  
  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say someone's lain flowers at your father's grave." He moved closer to take a better look. "They're still fresh... could someone still be living in this city?"  
  
"Miles, look out!" A shrouded figure fell upon them from above. Samie ducked and heard a slicing sound right behind her. When she looked up, she saw a huge gash across the Cyclone's missile turret (right above her). Miles kept his eyes open and, seeing the figure's movements at the edge of his vision, turned the vehicle to aim right at it, but all he saw was a blur as it moved behind a pile of debris.  
  
"Damn, he's too fast!" Miles used the brief break in the action to analyze the damage dealt to the turret. {Unusable. That figures,} he thought as he charged forward, Vulcan Cannon blazing. The high-caliber rounds he'd spent so much effort on punched through the heap of steel and concrete as though it were balsa wood, and he knew that he'd hit anything that could've been back there. "That'll take care of it," he said.  
  
But suddenly their foe leaped out from behind its cover, went straight over their heads, and aimed to come down right on top of them. Miles only had a split second to act, and he knew the Cyclone couldn't dodge this.  
  
"Bail out!" he cried, yanking Samie from the back seat and rolling to safety. The two of them ran blindly through the streets of the dead city as they heard the Cyclone take the fatal blow meant for them. They ran on for some time, and didn't dare look back.  
  
-----------------------  
  
"Alright," said Samie between gulps of air, "what the hell was that?"  
  
"I don't know..." Tails replied, also out of breath. He stiffened. "Did you hear that?"  
  
Samie shook her head, but took out her hammer just in case. Tails wished he had a gun, but he had always been loath to keep one lying around the house. True, the Cyclone was a lot more dangerous than any firearm, but he knew she didn't know how to start it. "I don't know how that thing could've kept up with us, but if it did, we have no choice but to fight."  
  
Samie rolled her eyes. "That's a comforting thought. C'mon, we should keep moving."  
  
The two walked down one of the city's main streets, a bit lost without the map, though Miles said he could probably find it anyway. They would've appeared calm, if it weren't for the glances they threw down the alleyways perpendicular to their path.  
  
"Just a few more blocks, Samie, hang in there."  
  
"I'm fine." Then she shrieked as the space in front of them erupted into flame with a bright flash.  
  
"Tails!? How is this possible?" said a voice neither had ever heard before.  
  
"Who the hell?" Miles rubbed his eyes, turning away from the blaze. He saw a scarlet figure a good distance away, with a rounded head adorned with spiky dreadlocks. He almost laughed with relief at the sight, until he saw the wicked claws on each of its hands, and the harsh black and red eyes that seemed to burn with eternal anger. Miles scowled. "Metal Knuckles!"  
  
The metal monstrosity threw its head back and laughed. "It is you! I thought you were dead, Tails. I don't know where you've been all this time, but I'm just glad I get to destroy you!"  
  
"What's Robotnik done to Station Square?" Samie demanded of this new foe.  
  
"What? Have the two of you been living under a rock?" The robot paused a moment, then decided to indulge his victims with the information before he killed them. "He's wiped it out, of course! His dream has always been to rule the world, after all. This was an example to anyone who would even dare to resist him."  
  
Miles gritted his teeth. "He's mad..."  
  
"I don't expect you to understand..." He raised his claws in a fighting position. "I expect you to DIE!" With a howl of rage, Metal Knuckles fired his jets and blasted toward Miles, only to be intercepted by the young hedgehog, and to receive a heavy blow from the Piko-Piko hammer.  
  
"Leave him alone!" shouted Samie.  
  
"Urgh... I underestimated you," he admitted. "But you're still no match for me!"  
  
Miles dropped to the ground and performed a spin-dash straight at the android, who quickly sidestepped and stuck a claw out, letting the fox's speed do the work for him. Miles felt the metal blades pierce his skin, but little else. He skidded to a stop and clutched his side. Samie ran up and pounded away on the artificial echidna, who blocked her powerful attacks effortlessly. Miles, recovering faster than expected, saw an opening and whipped with his tails, sending the robot to his knees. Samie took the opportunity and hefted her mallet *way* back, executing an uppercut smash that sent her foe sailing.  
  
Miles smirked. "You haven't changed much, Metal. A speech upgrade might let you strike fear into the helpless, but it won't do you any good against us."  
  
"Don't call me that."  
  
The fox raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Metal Knuckles?"  
  
The machine lowered his head, simulating a glare.  
  
{Let's see how much I can screw with him,} thought Miles. "It *is* your name, isn't it, Metal Knuckles? Or does it offend you now, Metal Knuckles?"  
  
Now he lowered his gaze to the ground and shook with anger.  
  
Samie lowered her weapon. "Are you sure about this, Unc?"  
  
But her uncle paid her no heed. "Oh, I get it. You're having a bit of copy envy, aren't you, Metal Knuckles?"  
  
"SILENCE!" roared the infuriated contraption. "Your friend is no more; I don't have to live under his shadow."  
  
Still Tails at heart, Miles' eyes widened, and his tails drooped. "Are you saying Knuckles is dead?"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Miles grabbed a lengthy lead pipe and bolted over. Claws locked with the makeshift weapon as the two tested their strength, trying to make the other yield. Samie kept her distance, fearing she might hit her uncle if she tried anything.  
  
Miles looked straight into those ruby eyes, wishing with his entire being that he'd live to see them extinguished. He knew his adrenaline was kicking into overtime, and he thought he felt his strength equal out. He couldn't unclench his jaw at the moment, he was exerting himself so much, but he managed to growl out: "So what do you call yourself now, murderer?"  
  
"Regrettably, Tails, I didn't kill your friend, though I certainly would've given the chance. And if you must know, my new name is Painmonger – and you're about to find out why!" With that, the crimson warrior doubled his efforts, forcing Miles to his knees, just as the fox had done to him before. Then he wrenched the pipe from his grasp and savagely backhanded him across the face, sending the two-tailed hero to the ground.  
  
The young hedgehog raised her hammer and charged, crying out as she went.  
  
"Samie, no!"  
  
Painmonger laughed as he raised his arm, the claw flipping back to reveal a minigun. "Now it ends!"  
  
Samie's vision went black, she collapsed, and the last thing she heard was the sound of the bullets firing...  
  
"NO!" Miles knew what he heard, and crawled out from behind Painmonger to see if Samie was hurt, but all he saw was a huge shuriken sticking out of the pavement right where she'd been standing.  
  
The evil android saw that its bullets hadn't pierced this impromptu shield and cursed. "Damn! Why do you always show up at the worst possible time!?" No answer. "I know you're out there, show yourself!"  
  
"You don't really expect me to do *that,* do you?" said a deep, raspy voice.  
  
"I'll have you this time! Nobody defeats me! Not even you, Espio!"  
  
"No holds barred," said the hidden chameleon.  
  
Painmonger emptied dozens of rounds into the windows of buildings where he thought the shuriken had come from.  
  
"Is that all?"  
  
"Damn you!" In a rage, the metal echidna revealed the gun in his other hand, and fired at everything he could see. Miles quickly crawled behind the ninja star shield, and saw that his niece had only collapsed because she'd run headfirst into the steel that had suddenly appeared in front of her.  
  
"DIE, DIE, DIE!" Painmonger cried, as walls began to crumble due to the massive damage. He began to laugh as everything fell around him, an insane cackling that chilled Miles to the bone. Finally the sounds of fired rounds changed to clicking noises, and the air was still as everyone listened for a trace of the ninja.  
  
Espio appeared by Miles, wrenched the shuriken out of the ground and hurled it. Painmonger dodged, but not enough as the weapon sliced off his left arm.  
  
"We'll meet again, Espio!" he said, switching to a tactic of full retreat.  
  
"I know we will." 


	5. Requiem

{Ohh... Where am I?} thought the violet hedgehog as she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. There was nothing special about it, though it was very different from the ceilings of her treehouse. She knew she was lying on a bed of some kind, but it definitely wasn't hers. Samie tried to sit up, but it hurt a bit.  
  
"Girl okay?"  
  
"What?"  
  
A huge purple ball of fur came into view, towering over her. At first she didn't know what to think, but then it leaned over, and she saw concern in its slitted yellow eyes. "Girl okay?" repeated the cat.  
  
"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine." She smiled, with a hint of nervousness.  
  
"Dat's good," it said, in a tone of voice you'd swear it was using on purpose, and walked off.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
Espio smiled warmly. "I can't tell you what a relief it is to see you again, Tails."  
  
"It's Miles," corrected the vulpine hero, "and the feeling's mutual." The two friends laughed and slapped each other on the back. Then Miles scratched his head, saying, "I hate to break up the moment so soon, but... you gotta tell me everything that's happened."  
  
The wise ninja's face hardened. "Of course." He gestured to the table in the middle of the room they stood in, which was obviously a kitchen, equipped with all the modern conveniences. Miles wondered if they actually worked. "Well, as you know, we had you take Amy to a safe place. We would've had you take Cream too, but we couldn't find her at the time. I know you wanted to stay and fight for—"  
  
"—I know," interrupted Miles. "But after a while, I saw the wisdom in that decision. This challenge was way over my head. And the fact that Amy was sick only pushed your case."  
  
"Yes... But it seems that 'morning sickness' was a bit more than we thought, if I'm right?"  
  
"You never miss a trick, do you?" Miles smirked. "Yes, that's her daughter all right. She's all that's left of those two..."  
  
Espio stared at the table in a moment of silence, then cleared his throat. "After you left, Charmy, Vector and I did our best to fend off Eggman. He seemed invincible, and it was all we could do to use teamwork to stay alive. We had some backup from Shadow and Rouge, but it wasn't enough."  
  
"What about the others?"  
  
"Well, we found Cream and Big eventually, but they weren't much more help than you or Amy could've been, so we hid them, as well. As for Omega, nobody knew, not even Shadow. I had just about given up hope...  
  
"But one day, we were approached by members of a secret government organization, one with whom I think you're quite familiar with..."  
  
Miles made a face. "G.U.N."  
  
"The same."  
  
"The same guys who caused us so much trouble during the ARK incident. They were the ones who shut the station down in the first place, and whose robots we had to fight every step of the way. They even arrested Sonic, for crying out loud!"  
  
"True, but this time they had things straight. During the ARK incident, they'd somehow managed to get a hold of the specific data of Project Shadow. If I had to guess, I'd say Rouge swiped it before we left."  
  
The fox nodded thoughtfully. "Okay... but what does that have to do with anything?"  
  
"After ARK, G.U.N. spent their time studying Dr. Gerald's discoveries. When they came to us, they claimed they could take everything they had learned, *and improve it.*"  
  
"Create a more powerful ultimate life form!? That's impossible! Gerald was a genius!"  
  
"That's what I thought too, but at that point, we had nothing to lose and everything to gain from going along with their plans. Building the lifeform's DNA from scratch would take too long, so they wanted to take a sample from Shadow to modify. Their computers simulated, however, that the modifications would prove unstable, and they'd need an additional tissue donor to balance it out."  
  
"So they needed DNA from another hedgehog? But Sonic was gone, and you obviously didn't find where Amy was. What'd you end up doing?"  
  
"They had no choice but to run tests to see if any other species would work. Obviously, humans wouldn't cut it, since they're so different, so it would have to be one of us."  
  
"Tell me they found someone."  
  
"You'll never guess who."  
  
"Just tell me!"  
  
"Rouge."  
  
"What? How?"  
  
"We don't know. We didn't have time to figure out why it worked, we just knew that there was a chance that her bat DNA was compatible, so we went with it. Unfortunately, around that time, Eggman was growing frustrated with us. We were continually getting in his way, and he'd stopped his attacks. The last thing we heard him say was that he was going to get even more powerful."  
  
"He was going after the Master Emerald."  
  
"Precisely what we figured. The trouble was, Rouge was still getting a sample extracted from her. Some of us reasoned that Eggman might be luring us away so he could attack the military compound, and others argued that he couldn't possibly have found out about our plan. In the end, Shadow chose to go alone to Angel Island. Charmy insisted on going with, since he was the only active flyer we had. He said that without him, Shadow would never be able to get up there." Espio looked away. "That was the last we ever saw of them."  
  
"You can't just give up on them!" Miles cried, standing up. "I mean, just look at me! I was gone for fifteen years! Don't try to tell me you never thought *I* was dead!"  
  
"At least you had a reason for staying hidden!" shouted the chameleon in reply. He wasn't angry with Miles, but he sensed that some part of him was still young, immature Tails, whose faith in his friends was unwavering. Espio knew that if it hadn't been for that faith, the fox never would've tried to find the rest of them, but even so, he had to accept this truth. "I know how much you looked up to them, Miles, but face it. It was a fool's errand. Knuckles, Charmy, and Shadow are GONE."  
  
Miles sank slowly back into his chair. How could this happen? How could the Ultimate Life Form be dead, along with two more of his friends? How could anyone hope to beat Eggman now...  
  
A sniff was heard from the doorway, and the two turned to see Samie with tears in her eyes. {She's been standing there the whole time,} Miles realized. Samie ran toward her uncle and buried her face in his arms. Miles just stood there, holding her, staring off into space. "Don't you worry, Samie," he said. "We'll find a way... we've *got* to find a way." 


	6. Gathering

Espio sighed. He didn't know how to cheer them up. He'd given up on beating Eggman. In the past, even when the few among them summoned enough strength to defeat Painmonger, Eggman rebuilt him. Within a month, he was battling the Sonic Heroes with as much fervor as ever. The doctor had even managed to restore his memories somehow.  
  
Big leaned his head through the doorway, and saw Samie crying. "I'll go get the others, they'll make you happy!"  
  
{Not a bad idea, for once,} mused Espio.  
  
Miles dried his niece's tears and looked to the chameleon once more. "How many are left?"  
  
"Follow me."  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Sensitive ears picked up the blasting tones. "Damnit..." she said, turning around. "It's a wonder you haven't gone deaf from listening to those headphones all these years!"  
  
The green eyelids she stared at popped open suddenly. "Huh?"  
  
Rouge pointed to her ears in exasperation. Vector took the hint and switched off his CD player. "I said it's a wonder you aren't deaf yet, Vector!"  
  
"That's because I don't even *have* ears, ya dumb broad! Full blast on these things is the perfect volume setting for my hearing range."  
  
"Couldn't you turn it down a bit? If it was any louder, you might as well be listening to that disc with a boom box!"  
  
Vector folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Not my fault you got ears that can hear ants walking from fifty feet away. Go hang upside down somewhere if it bothers you!" And with that, he switched the music back on.  
  
Rouge turned her head away indignantly. "Hmph!"  
  
"Rouge, Vector, please stop fighting!" A tall female hare in a long dress walked into the room. "We're all friends here, aren't we?"  
  
"Friends with that lizard?" Rouge kept her head turned away from the crocodile in question. "Hardly."  
  
"Lizard??"  
  
Cream clapped her hands to her mouth. A small bow-tied chao beside her did likewise. "Rouge, what a horrible thing to say!"  
  
"Chao!"  
  
The lady bat whipped around. "Shut that annoying thing up!"  
  
"Hey guys!" said Big the Cat, practically bounding into the room. "Look what Espio found!"  
  
Vector fumbled for the off switch again. "Huh?"  
  
Miles walked nervously through the door, accompanied by a flourish and a "Ta-da!" from the huge cat. Everyone's face seemed to light up.  
  
"Mr. Tails!"  
  
"Tails!"  
  
"Fox-boy!"  
  
Miles was so happy he didn't mind being called by his childhood names. "Guys! You're alright!"  
  
Vector got up and hugged his vulpine friend in a death-grip of joy. "Haha! Tails, ol' buddy! I thought you were gone for sure!"  
  
Miles' eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Can't – breathe – ribs – breaking...!"  
  
Cream clasped her hands together and hopped with delight. "Mr. Tails! It really is you!"  
  
"Chao! Chao!"  
  
Rouge smiled from where she sat. "Well, well... you made it through okay, fox boy. I won't lie to you, I thought we'd seen the last of you fifteen years ago."  
  
Miles squirmed out of the croc's huge arms. "Heh, you know me... never give up and all that stuff."  
  
Everyone knew that was exactly what Sonic would say in the exact same situation, but no one would say it out loud. Instead, they all distracted themselves by asking how the others had been, all this time. They shared stories for a while, and for once in a long time, they were all happy.  
  
Miles staggered out of the jabbering crowd for a second and sat down next to Rouge in a quiet corner. She had been the quietest by far. "Something wrong, Rouge?"  
  
"Let's just say I'm not the touchy-feely type. It's good to have you back, Tails."  
  
Espio showed his face, finally. "Attention, everyone. There's someone you all should meet. This is Samie."  
  
"H-Hi," she stammered.  
  
"She's Sonic's daughter. And if I've learned anything during this time of hardship, it's to recognize good luck when I see it." Samie looked up, confused, but the ninja continued. "Now that these two are with us, I believe we may be able to beat Robotnik."  
  
The mood in the room drastically changed.  
  
Vector's jaw dropped. "She's Sonic's what??"  
  
Rouge raised an eyebrow. "Say that again?"  
  
Cream's eyes widened. "Beat Eggman?"  
  
"Chao?"  
  
Miles stood up. "Care to explain this for us? How do the two of us make so much of a difference?"  
  
Espio stepped towards them. "Don't you see? This is the best luck we've had in all this time, and if we don't take action now, we'll lose our chance forever. I've talked with Samie, and as far as I can tell, she's as fast as Sonic ever was, if a little inexperienced. As for Miles, he's just what we've needed: a leader."  
  
"Leader? Me?"  
  
Espio smirked. "Don't sound so surprised. I have faith in you Miles. With your brilliant mind, I know you can come up with a plan. We've become lost over the years. We've fought amongst each other. Even I was drifting away from the team, but you can bring us direction. Give us something to unite for again, and Eggman won't stand a chance." 


End file.
